Bearcats move past Marshwood-Traip

ROCHESTER — If the Somersworth/Coe-Brown boys ice hockey team expected shorthanded Marshwood-Traip to lie down for them Friday night, then they were sadly mistaken.

Not mistaken enough to lose, but certainly the Bearcats knew they were in a game with the Hawks in a 5-3 win during the Brian Doucette Memorial Hockey Tournament at the Rochester Ice Arena.

Somersworth/Coe-Brown will play in tonight’s final at 7 against Noble-Wells, which beat Pembroke-Campbell, 10-4. The Hawks will play in the 5 p.m. consolation game against Pembroke-Campbell.

The Siering brothers, Austin and Colby, scored two goals each to lead the Bearcats, including a pair 17 seconds apart in the second period that broke a 1-1 tie and put them ahead for good, 3-1.

“Those were huge,” said Colby Siering, who scored the eventual game-winner in the third period.

“They were trying to compete against each other,” said Somersworth/Coe-Brown coach Ron Siering. “Maybe they had a little thing going on.”

Marshwood-Traip played without three starters, including two who were out injured — goalie Tyler Gagnon and forward Drew Hale. Leading scorer Peter Lajeunesse was also out of the lineup on holiday in Arizona, according to coach Eric Royal.

Despite those losses, the Hawks struck first in the opening period on the power play when Cam DuFault pushed in a puck in front off his own rebound of a nice top shelf shot that looked like it went in, but was not ruled a goal. Jake Scremin earned the assist.

Austin Siering tied the game up for the Bearcats 41 seconds later with a slapshot from the right point. Slovakian-exchange student Timo Jurenka, who misfired on a half dozen golden scoring chances, picked up one of his two assists on the play.

“Timo had a hard time hitting the net, but maybe it’s because his family’s in town visiting,” said coach Siering. “Maybe he had a little bit of jitters. Overall, the boys played pretty decent.”

The Siering brothers broke the tie in the second period with similar goals 17 seconds apart. Colby Siering scored on a rush from the left, going to the right corner for the 2-1 lead.

Brother Austin scored 17 seconds later, also unassisted, coming in from the same left side and going to the same right corner.

“He did a solid job back there,” Royal said. “He gave us a chance. We had some breakdowns in front of him, which led to some scoring opportunities. Unfortunately, they capitalized on them. He held his ground. He did a good job.”

Somersworth/Coe-Brown goalie Peter Robertson made 18 saves.

The Hawks cut the lead to 3-2 in the third period at 2:54. Seth Lawrence’s shot from the top of the right circle seemed to be corralled by Robertson in his midsection, but it slipped through and in for a goal. DuFault earned the assist.

The Hawks had the momentum, especially after Austin Siering was whistled for an elbowing penalty and then tossed from the game for jawing with the official.

“The call’s the call. The referee is not going to change it,” coach Siering added. “You just have to accept it and deal with it. We’ve got to grow up a little bit when that kind of stuff happens.”

Colby Siering had his back, scoring a pretty short-handed goal with a nice backhand rush from Dakota Hippern that put the Bearcats up, 4-2.

“We got a little tired down the stretch and their minds went on them and we made some mental mistakes,” Royal added. “Again at this point in the season we shouldn’t be tired and out of shape. We need to be in better shape. We’ll have to do a little more conditioning to get ready.”

Somersworth/Coe-Brown put the game out of reach nearly two minutes later when Ben Bailey converted in close for the three-goal lead.

The Hawks had a goal called back when it was ruled to be kicked in. They added their final goal with 22.1 seconds to play when Troy Stevens scored from the right post, where he was perched all alone and stuck it in before Robertson could respond.

“That went our way with that,” added Colby Siering about the Hawks playing shorthanded. “That helped us a lot. Lajeunesse is a good player with a lot of skills, so that helped us.”